Do You Know Where the Men Are

Reality Check: Looking Beyond the Numbers

By Essence · Updated October 29, 2020

No, you’re not crazy-there really aren’t enough brothers to go around: 115 Black women in the United States for every 100 Black men 18 and over. Think back to when the numbers of Black boys in your class started to dwindle because the school system gave up on them and fast money beckoned. The streets led to lockup (586,300 Black men in federal and state prisons, compared with 35,050 Black women), fewer college graduates (38,103 Black men in 2001 versus 73,204 Black women) and unemployment (nearly 50 percent of Black men in New York City, for instance). That leaves many of us going solo unless we’re willing to step outside our comfort zones of education level, race, ethnicity and, especially, social status. “I know guys who are educated, hardworking and ambitious,” says William July II, a relationship expert and author, “but many women would look right past them because they don’t pass the status test.”

Where the Men Are Nationally there are 86 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women. Among Blacks that ratio is 73 to 100. We wanted to know where to find the highest concentrations of single brothers. To do that, we compared single Black populations in the nation’s top 100 major metropolitan areas-from Miami to Seattle. Killeen, Texas, anyone?

Ranking	Metro Area	No. Men	No. Women	No. of men per 100 women
1	Killeen, Texas	9,916	9,511	104
2	San Diego, Calif.	32,461	31,708	102
3	Seattle, Wash.	23,215	23,404	99
4	Phoenix, Ariz.	23,883	24,907	96
5	San Francisco, Calif.	22,673	25,050	91
6	Minneapolis, Minn.	29,958	34,169	88
7	Boca Raton, Fla.	51,574	58,017	88
8	Vallejo, Ohio	10,277	11,788	87
9	Las Vegas, Nev.	23,356	27,420	85
10	Denver, Colo.	21,094	24,832	85
11	Austin, Texas	19,356	22,774	85
12	Lakeland, Fla.	12,126	14,356	84
13	Pensacola, Fla.	12,809	15,812	81
14	Youngstown, Ohio	12,080	14,762	81
15	San Jose, Calif.	102,001	124,579	81
16	Salem, N.C.	84,430	105,219	80
17	West Palm Beach, Fla.	26,998	33,556	80
18	Fayettville, NC	16,954	21,094	80
19	Huntsville, Ala.	12,832	16,323	79
20	Biloxi, Miss.	12,758	16,157	79
21	Riverside, Calif.	39,217	50,127	78
22	Orlando, Fla.	39,162	50,230	78
23	Columbus, Ohio	40,499	52,010	78
24	Hartford, Conn.	21,447	27,466	78
25	Ann Arbor, Mich.	27,101	34,378	78
26	Boston, Mass.	44,843	58,605	77
27	Montgomery, Ala.	25,390	32,807	77
28	San Antonio, Texas	18,193	23,582	77
29	Middlesex, N.J.	15,987	20,786	77
30	Jersey City, N.J.	16,607	21,506	77
31	Grand Rapids, Mich.	14,964	19,487	77
32	Jackson, Miss.	38,787	50,752	76
33	Sacramento, Calif.	22,266	29,206	76
34	Rochester, N.Y.	20,599	27,043	76
35	Beaumont, Texas	16,526	21,783	76
36	Trenton, N.J.	13,385	17,672	76
37	Miami, Fla.	83,846	110,407	75
38	Tampa, Fla.	42,998	57,702	75
39	Oklahoma City, Okla.	21,104	28,015	75
40	Omaha, Neb.	11,091	14,878	75
41	Fort Lauderdale, Fla.	54,120	73,490	74
42	Buffalo, N.Y.	26,277	35,68	74
43	Columbus, Ga.	19,203	26,004	74
44	Atlanta, Ga.	215,879	291,880	73
45	Lafayette, La.	8,583	25,515	73
46	Norfolk, Va.	80,294	110,782	72
47	Memphis, Tenn.	88,249	122,282	72
48	Cincinnati, Ohio	41,439	57,607	72
49	Fort Worth, Texas	30,900	42,791	72
50	Greenville, S.C.	30,241	41,929	72
51	Augusta, Ga.	27,825	38,421	72
52	Wilmington, Del.	18,845	26,295	72
53	Savannah, Ga.	18,093	25,236	72
54	Toledo, Ohio	15,501	21,431	72
55	Akron, Ohio	14,657	20,316	72
56	New Haven, Conn.	13,126	18,290	72
57	Detroit, Mich.	197,636	278,498	71
58	Los Angeles	176,251	248,905	71
59	Houston, Texas	123,133	173,756	71
60	New Orleans, La.	92,270	130,459	71
61	Jacksonville, Fla.	40,056	56,045	71
62	Indianapolis, Ind.	41,193	57,868	71
63	Kansas City, Mo.	41,167	57,758	71
64	Nashville, Miss.	36,342	51,010	71
65	Shreveport, La.	26,683	37,761	71
66	Washington, D.C.	226,502	322,415	70
67	Newark, N.J.	83,511	119,593	70
68	Oakland, Calif.	56,796	81,177	70
69	Charlotte, N.C.	52,426	74,629	70
70	Raleigh, N.C.	45,839	65,639	70
71	Nassau, N.Y.	36,554	52,595	70
72	Baton Rouge, La.	33,575	47,820	70
73	Columbia, S.C.	28,314	40,887	70
74	Charleston, N.C.	28,222	40,218	70
75	Louisville, Ky.	26,711	37,939	70
76	Little Rock, Ark.	22,110	31,968	70
77	Tallahassee, Fla.	19,985	28,368	70
78	Tulsa, Okla.	12,272	17,715	70
79	Monmouth, N.J.	10,924	15,513	70
80	Richmond, Va.	51,835	75,457	69
81	Flint, Mich.	16,094	23,408	69
82	Chicago, Ill.	288,017	419,517	68
83	Baltimore, Md.	127,775	187,294	68
84	Dallas, Texas	87,576	128,432	68
85	Greensboro, S.C.	43,640	63,988	68
86	Dayton, Ohio	24,832	36,434	68
87	Gary, Ind.	23,045	33,915	68
88	Macon, Ga.	21,239	31,131	68
89	Chattanooga, Miss.	11,770	17,414	68
90	Philadelphia, Pa.	189,180	279,878	67
91	St. Louis, Mo.	85,760	127,265	67
92	Cleveland, Ohio	77,656	115,178	67
93	Birmingham, Ala.	48,699	72,961	67
94	Milwaukee, Wis.	40,623	60,627	67
95	Bergen, N.J.	19,561	29,043	67
96	Rocky Mount, NC	10,177	15,103	67
97	Mobile, Ala.	24,529	36,744	66
98	Albany, Ga.	10,905	16,392	66
99	New York, N.Y.	408,730	626,756	65
100	Pittsburgh, Pa.	34,230	52,837	65